I absolutely care about covers. I'm very visual and a good cover can totally grab me and make me check out a book. I also tend to visually associate the cover with the book years down the road.

One thing I really hate is when publishers use a nice cover to sell the book, but a generic one in the actual book file. I know on some older ones it can occasionally be a question of artwork licenses from pre-ebook days (or so some pubs have said), but they also do it on brand new releases that they're charging me the same they do a pbook buyer so there's no excuse then.

One thing I really hate is when publishers use a nice cover to sell the book, but a generic one in the actual book file. I know on some older ones it can occasionally be a question of artwork licenses from pre-ebook days (or so some pubs have said), but they also do it on brand new releases that they're charging me the same they do a pbook buyer so there's no excuse then.

Totally agree with you. Harpercollins is really bad about this so is Bantam.

For example, I've signed out more than a hundred ebooks from my library over the past couple of years. Not once did I browse aimlessly through the library's selection. I accessed all those books by searching for an author or title that I wanted. I find books through research and reviews and recommendations. This forum is a great resource for that, I get information about books without any covers (I have blockers on my browser so no images show in posts).

I don't particularly notice covers when I click on a page at Amazon or anywhere else. I scroll straight past covers to the description or review. I bought an ebook a couple of days ago and I don't have any idea what the cover looked like. When I checked in calibre just now, it downloaded with a generic white cover with the title and author name. I don't use the cover view in calibre and I don't replace generic covers.

I did specifically say in my earlier post that I'm not typical, but it shouldn't be that big of a stretch to understand that not everyone cares about book covers.

Is there some reason you felt a need to make this personal?

I'm glad you are so obviously superior to us poor benighted fools who are influenced by artwork.

If I am looking at paper books, the cover can give me an idea of what the book is about (assuming the subject is not obvious from the title) - if there is a picture of a gun, it's probably a mystery or thriller; a picture of a barely-dressed person with hair blowing in the wind probably indicates a romance; etc.

When I'm looking at ebooks on the Overdrive library or Sony store, I'm usually looking under a particular category so I already have some idea what the book is about and am less likely to notice the cover.

Once it's on my ereader, I really don't pay attention to the cover. Small black-and-white thumbnails just aren't that exciting. Some library books I've had don't have pictures, just titles, and given the small thumbnail size, those can actually be easier to see than the ones with complicated cover art obscuring the tiny words.

I buy books based on the cover too. I absolutely LOATHE movie cover versions, and am thankful that they never did that with the Harry Potter books. They just look tacky, out of place, and they don't age well on a shelf. I do the same thing with music albums to an extent.

The cover is what dictates how your work will be advertised. You can write beautiful poetry, but if the people advertising your work don't have anything to work with in terms of photographs, illustrations, or concepts, for getting the word out there, it's going to be very difficult.

They do for some people and I'd say probably for the majority. I get cover comments all the time (from people who have and haven't read the books. From people who will NEVER read the books, but want to comment.) I usually do a cover poll before releasing each book because people like to comment about art. From young to old, people will comment about artwork. I recently redid the cover for Executive Lunch because I was rather tired of hearing that the book must be about golf (it had a cartoon golf course with a martini glass on the front. It signified an "executive lunch" of sorts, but...my interpretation was often not matched by those who saw it!)

Of course there is no pleasing everyone, but I get enough cover comments in reviews and emails to know it matters.

At least I was not so immediately smitten that I bought the HC. But I was nostalgic enough (I have been to Cinque Terre and it is one of the most charming places on earth) to check the book out from the library (ebook!) and read it.

Not only is the book TERRIBLE, but none of it even takes place in Cinque Terre! That'll teach me!

At least I was not so immediately smitten that I bought the HC. But I was nostalgic enough (I have been to Cinque Terre and it is one of the most charming places on earth) to check the book out from the library (ebook!) and read it.

Not only is the book TERRIBLE, but none of it even takes place in Cinque Terre! That'll teach me!

eP

I have wanted to visit there for a long time. We were in Italy and it was at the top of my list when I researched, but we were on a cruise and there was no way to make that anything other than a rushed stop. I think I could stay there quite happily for an entire summer. Everything I read about it and the pictures...just spectacular!

This got me thinking: do book covers make a difference, especially with e-books?

Short answer (in my case): yes

In fact, I'd go on to say that in makes more of a case to me with e-books than with paper books. With most of my e-book libraries, I end up looking at the "front" cover artwork every time I go through my library, as opposed to my physical book shelves, where I'm usually only looking at the binding. Really ugly e-book covers then can be like the proverbial death by a thousand cuts, where each time you access your library you're subjected to the eyesores.

It's funny, but I actually find that cover artwork makes the most difference when going through classic literature. Usually there are numerous versions of the same book with different covers available, and I tend to either choose the 1st edition cover (if available) or the most aesthetically pleasing.

And on another level, e-book covers can enhance the reading experience. My first "purchase" from the Google Play Book Store was their free version of Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which had the 1st edition cover art and illustrations. I really felt like I was sitting down to read the "real thing" and found myself envisioning the cowardly lion as an actual quadruped rather than Bert Lahr in a costume. Granted, the original illustrations probably helped more with this than the cover, but it still played a part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LovesMacs

Despite the saying that "you can't judge a book by its cover", I find myself doing that.

Until thinking about it just now, I had never thought about the inherent paradox of that old adage. I guess I've always interpreted it with an implied "just" in there. i.e., "you can't judge a book *just* by its cover". Obviously, a lot (if not all) of us do use the cover to judge a book to some extent - even more so if there's no other supporting information to differentiate between books. But ironically, as the article brought out, we also use it to judge what is otherwise the SAME book (e.g., The Great Gatsby) !